


The Calderrealm

by Zeberanth



Category: Calderrealm
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 10:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeberanth/pseuds/Zeberanth
Summary: When young Kani Riddari's life upside down  the carnage of the Midnight Clan, she dedicates her life to their demise. When years later she meets a group with a similar goal, her dream of destroying the clan might just become a reality.





	1. ↟Chapter 1: Dryad Tears↡

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter serves as a prologue to the rest of the story, telling of the incident that sparked Kani's motivation.

The cool, clear water licked the child’s toes as she giggled with delight. Small tadpoles swam cautiously around her chubby feet, confused by the fleshy intruder. She took another tentative step into the stream, and then another, and another, until a series of lumbering strides led her into the middle of the stream. She turned around, admiring how far she had journeyed from the riverbank. She dropped onto a nearby stone, gazing at the glimmering waters.  
Large, ancient fish surrounded her, the moss-covered armored plates on their backs having become submerged islands in their own right. Having become bored with the decrepit creatures, the youngster let her gaze drift to other parts of her aquatic realm. A flicker of bright, violet light from next to her very own rock caught her golden eyes. She closed them tightly, grabbing onto the lichen next to her thighs, absorbing their natural energies. She let the water tickling her feet feed into her supply, until she had a small buildup of earthy fuel stored in her core.  
As she was relatively inexperienced in the field of sorcery, she could not yet tap into the air around her as a source for her half-dryad abilities. However, her mother had observed her aptitude for magik at quite a young age, allowing her to explore the world around her, honing in on her innate gifts.  
She opened her eyes and slowly sent a thin vine-like tendrill from underneath the nail of the littlest finger on her left hand. This vine grew longer by the second, eventually breaching the water, causing faint ripples to emanate from it’s earthy form. The child sent her plant searching for the source of the purple shine, causing it to deliberately curl around her stone seat. Suddenly, she sensed a lifeform resting just under her tendril. From the vine she delicately cast a thin leaf, which she used to stroke the creature’s back. It was slick, and long, slyly waiting for her to make a grab at it. A serpent. Her heart soared, as she had never successfully captured a snake in the entirety of her short, albeit adventurous, years alive. She steadied herself, winding the vine around the serpent’s slithering body. She sent the branch back underneath her skin, taking the captured creature with it.  
Once the serpent was taken from the water, she grasped it firmly with her right hand, letting the vine fully slip away to where it originated. She placed her new friend in her lap, stroking its glimmering scales. It purred contentedly as it curled up her arm. Through the microscopic hairs on her forearm she pushed the last of her energy into the creature, attempting to make the coveted familiar bond that her mother had spoken about. She felt a nerve click in her brain, connecting her mentally and magikally to the serpent. She sensed his heartbeat beating in sync with hers, and from that moment she would always feel a deep connection to the creature, one that could only be surpassed by the true love of a mate.  
As she was bonding with her new familiar, the child did not realize the thick branch curling around her torso. She held her friend close with her right hand, waving goodbye to her stone with her left, as she was lifted back to the riverbed. Her round face turned to peer up into the eyes of a beautiful, soft face embedded into the tree bark. The bark melted away, and the dryad spun her daughter around in the crisp forest air, holding her high to the tree branches.  
“Is this a new friend, flower?” she gently whispered, bringing the child to her chest gracefully.  
The girl nodded enthusiastically, thrusting the snake up to meet her mother’s kind, drowsy eyes. The dryad laughed, melting to the floor, sitting the child on her lap.  
“Do you have a name, pretty boy?” the mother asked playfully, gazing at the calm serpent wrung between the child’s hands. The snake hissed in response. “Oh you don’t?” the dryad replied. He shook his head solemnly, closing his pitch black eyes. “Well that’s just terrible. I must know what to call you if you are to become Kani’s familiar.” She glanced cheerfully at the child.  
“How do I know what to call him? There are so many names. I can’t call him Gerald, that’s my frogs name.” she said, seeming seriously concerned at the prospect of not finding a suitable title for her most formidable of companions.  
“Of course.” her mother said with a loving smile. “You don’t want to call for your familiar in a time of need and have a fat frog hopping up to aid you! That would just be silly!” Kani giggled at the thought of Gerald the oversized amphibian coming to her rescue. “Hmm. Let’s see. A name of a familiar must mean something, shouldn’t it. For you will be bonded to him for as long you live. So, what kind of snake do you think he is? Is he brave and strong? Smart and cunning? You know, when you were born, the forest seemed to sing out to you. It still does if you listen hard enough. That’s why i gave you the name Kani, an ancient dryad word meaning song. So, what is this serpent like?”  
Kani thought hard, her brow furrowing and her mouth scrunching up. She tilted her head, carefully studying her familiar that was once again curling up her arm. “Wise.” she said decisively.  
“What about Raoul? Tis’ a beautiful celestial word. Wise as a wolf, people are that are named Raoul.”  
“It’s perfect!” Kani exclaimed excitedly, hugging her friend tightly. He hissed with discomfort. She brought him to her face and asked enthusiastically “do you like that? Raoul? It is just wonderful isn’t it!” The snake hummed contentedly.  
“It seems that he approves .” her mother said softly. “Now let’s go home and-” her voice trailed off as her eyes drifted behind her child’s head of curly, chestnut brown hair. Her vibrant yellow eyes narrowed suspiciously.  
“What is it mama?” Kani asked, concerned.  
“Shh, flower.” the dryad lifted from the ground, holding her child tightly to her chest, branches extending from her limbs defensively.  
Kani turned her head to see tendrils of midnight black crawling from the river she had just returned from. Their branches of ashy darkness infected the waters with a gloomy cloud. The little girl absorbed the carnage with horror as her new familiar hid in her shirt. The mother put her terrified child on the ground, cupping her face with hands that were already spewing vines.  
“Look at me Kani. Don’t be scared sweetheart, don’t worry. Now, I could run with you, but I am a fighter. And I am going to fight to protect you.” the woman said shakily, silver tears running down the bark crevices on her face.  
“I’m scared mama. What’s happening?” the child asked between sobs.  
“Flower, there are bad people in this world. Demons. They are only here to spread darkness and sorrow.” she wiped the tears from her daughter’s face. Kani looked up to see a vast network of branches growing from her mother’s back, the tips of which were being licked by the shadowy entities behind their earthy wall. “We can fight them. You are too young right now. But once you are as old as me you will be so powerful darling. More powerful than me, and even king strongjaw. I know you are the one who will stop these monsters forever. Will you promise me that?”  
Kani sank to her knees in terror, gazing at the thick wall of branches and thorns that was growing around her mother, shielding her from the creatures. She saw a black claw reach through a hole in the barricade. A burst of energy from her mother’s back shot at it, cutting off the hand and leaving it flailing on the forest floor.  
“At least promise me you will try to fight them.” said the dryad, her face beginning to become part of the wall itself.  
“I promise. But why are you doing this mama? Why can’t we run together.”  
“You’ll see sweetheart.” she reassured her, lifting her child from off of the ground. “Now run to that hill. And when you get there look back for me, and you’ll see why i can’t come with you. I love you flower. And I will always be with you. Now go.” She embraced the crying child one last time before pushing her away. “Go!” she screamed, the form of her body becoming completely lost in the branches of the wall.  
Kani stumbled backward, taking one last look at the monumental barrier her mother was creating. She then turned, and sprinted as fast as her 7 year old legs could carry her toward the distant hill.  
⤘⤘⤘ 

She didn't even as much as glance behind her before she reached the top of the hill. After climbing the last of the ancient stone steps, Kani heaved herself onto a large moss covered rock as a vantage point. It was then that she saw the village. It was small, with little cottages with thatched roofs and chimneys spewing gray smoke. There were horses leading carts, and people rushing around, blanantly oblivious to the swarm of midnight clan demons that a dryad mother had just saved them from. Just beyond the village was Kani’s mother’s last mark on the world. A colossal wall-like tree, completely turned to hardened ash. The image of her mother’s creation did not make young Kani burst into tears. No, her chest was filled with love. She knew her purpose. She would fulfill her mother’s wishes, and finally make an end to the dark, evil rule of the midnight clan. It was a promise.


	2. ⇞Chapter 2: A stranger in the forest⇟

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kani's serpentine friend, Raoul, is attacked in the forest. As she works to heal him, she unexpectedly meets a winged Celestial man, who claims he can help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place years after the first, in Kani's young adult years.

Kani ran her calloused fingers down the scales of Raoul’s back, pausing at the sliver of hardened ash jutting out between two of his scales. She winced, imagining the battle her familiar must have gotten into to obtain such an injury. She gingerly plucked a small bottle from her satchel, pouring the shimmering liquid around her friend’s wound. The shrapnel dissolved in her hand as she carefully guided it away from the gash. She kept an eye on her friend as she finished working on the cut, stroking his back in a comforting motion and earning a soft purr-like hiss.  
“Impressive. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a skill set like that.”  
Kani turned quickly to face the owner of the deep voice coming from behind her. There was a man leaning against a tree, watching her.  
“Thanks” she said, trying to sound confident “I’m self taught.” Raoul defensively curled around her neck, hissing at the stranger facing them. Kani met the man’s gaze, her golden eyes narrowing quizzically. Looking him up and down, she analyzed his muscular appearance, light brown hair just long enough to almost cover his eyes, and his eyes themselves. It was his unblinking eyes that gave his race away, they had a slight blue glow to their grey color. Celestial. The cloud-like marking stretching from his cheek around his eye further supported her hypothesis. She was never good with people and couldn’t determine his motives with her from a single glance and decided to attempt a new approach. “Know much about the midnight clan?” She asked carefully.  
The man raised his eyebrows at the duo. “No more than the average person” he said with a slight smile. “Why do you ask?’  
“I was just wondering if you could decipher what happened to my pal here” she gestured to the serpent nuzzling against her neck. “He was gone last night and I found him with a piece of their armour lodged in his scales.” She stepped towards the man, noticing that he was slightly taller than her, giving him the advantage if she had to engage with him physically. Her legs wavered under her weight and she noticed her hands were shaking. Curling her hands into fists, she grounded herself into the core of the planet through her earthen energy, a power given to the children of the dryads. Finding her confidence once more she slyly remarked, “It’ wasn’t you, was it?’  
He let out a breathy laugh as he shifted his weight onto his feet. “I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t have let you heal your friend if it was my goal to injure him.” His demeanor changed suddenly as he grew alert and looked around at the surrounding forest. “You said you found him here.”  
She exhaled, growing tired of the constant battle of slyness, and sat on a nearby fallen tree. She pat the mushroom covered bark beside her and rested her head in the palm of her hands. “He woke me up before sunrise. Our connection was burning my neural pathways. I knew what happened, all I had to do was follow the stench of pure destruction.” She lifted her head and curled the edge of her lips into a grin as she observed the stranger again. “I don’t see many of your type here. Want a drink? My special brew of ale and my special fite healing potion, makes the lady Celestials at the bar go craaaazy.”  
The stranger walked up to her and held out his hand urgently. “I’d simply love to try it” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, “but we need to get you out of here. The creature that injured your friend is most like still nearby. It's not safe.” He unfolded wings from his back and shifted into a balanced stance.  
Kani’s eyes narrowed, Raoul’s head perking up. “What makes you think I can’t defend myself? I mean thanks for the gesture bird boy, I really appreciate it, but I have to get home. My mom’s probably missing me.” She stood and began to saunter away when a firm hand wrapped around her arm.  
At the same time Raoul tightened around her neck and she could feel their connection tense as the world around them seemed to vibrate with a dark energy. “What in all of the three creators is in the midst of this god forsaken forest” she whispered shakily.  
“Oh? You mean the energy you claimed you can protect yourself from?” He asked smugly with a flick of his eyebrows. His posture had tensed even more as he began to pull Kani into him and stretched his wings out. “Now if you don’t struggle, I can get you to safety until we can take care of it.”  
The pounding in her head increased as an aphotic obscurity began to invade the corners of her vision. She strained to try to breath as every motion she made became draining. She dropped to the ground like a flower in a drought, air particles enclosing her. Her connection to her familiar was cut off, leaving an empty feeling inside her. In a moment of helplessness she dislodged the bottle housing the liquid that had healed Raoul. Tearing the cork off, she took a deep drink from the bottle. Throwing the bottle to the ground she heard the shattering of ancient crystal echoing within her bones as the shimmering antidote forced out the intruding emptiness. “GO!” she gasped at her friend, taking his milky white body and stuffing it into her bag.  
“Shit” the boy swore softly as he pulled her into him and wrapped a strong arm around her back. In a single motion he launched them high into the air, keeping her pressed tightly against his chest with one arm. Once they were above the trees he kept them hovering in place, surveying the forest below them. “This isn’t good.”  
Kani sent tendrils of vines from her fingers around his torso for stability. A glance passed her feet revealed the forest canopy seemingly devoured by a charcoal entity. She kicked off a shoe aimlessly, watching it flutter down into the abyss. As it reached the darkness it melded into the sickening pitch. The shock of her footwear’s rapid decay seemed to sober her up. “Raoul, get the potion of Saturn, it’s in my left pocket. I gotta…. Mix it.” she grunted, taking her arms away from the strange man’s chest, her vines acting as her body’s complete support. She s[it a braid out of her mouth as she worked against the piercing winds, stirring together a thick, red liquid with an opaque baby blue powder, creating a sputtering a sparking purple concoction.  
The man pulled her tighter against his chest and looked at her quizzically. “What is that for? Not to be doubtful but what good is that going to do us from up here?” He sighed and let a small grunt, pushing the farther into the air.  
“I don’t see that you have any reason… pfft” she spit out another braid “To be doubting my abilities, you don’t even know my name. I’m done with this saving my ass, shit. So long, bird boy.” With that, she pushed away from him, disconnecting her branches from his back and dropping into a free fall, his body tensing as he reached out in a futile attempt to catch her. She hastily placed her hand over the violet liquid, as to not spill her precious creation. As the wind roared against her heavily pierced ears, she sent armies of leaves out from under her fingernails.  
The emerald green blades cascaded around her as she continued to fall. Just as she was nearing the sea of darkness she propelled a system of branches from her back. Each branch settled between two vertebrae, sliding gracefully out of her skin. The branches gathered the leaves around her, and she landed in the cocoon of twigs on the forest floor.  
The boy swore again and shot himself back down to the forest floor, landing in a crouch in front of Kani. “Good point about the names. I’m Evander, nice to meet you” he said with a slight aggression “Now I’m not underestimating you-” he held his hand out, shooting a spear of light piercing through the darkness around them. “I saw you almost pass out at the mere presence of the beast-” he looked back at her, his eyes glowing red instead of their usual grey. “Now correct me if I’m wrong, but that isn’t a very promising sign of victory.” Evander curled his wings down slightly before throwing them back up. Instead of the soft wings they were previously, they were now a hard, steel grey, sharpened around the ends. “Now if you don’t mind, leave this to those of us whose job this is.”  
Kani gave him an obscene gesture and continued dipping leaves into the potion. Once they emerged from it, they floated patiently around her. Raoul was helping her the best he could, using his tail to tip small twigs into the potion. Once there was a solid wall of purple, violently sparking foliage, Kani downed the liquid. She let out a howl like that of a banshee, smashing the flask to the ground. The plants burst away from her in all directions, killing the darkness.  
She collapsed and clawed at the dead grass next to her head, trying to find the strength to stand. But something had been tainted, as if the subtle song of the meadow had been brutally silenced. She cursed under her shaky breath. She crawled to a tree, frantically running her fingers down the notches at its bark, created by her magik barrage. She felt nothing, not even a shadow of the spirit of her mother’s rhythmic heartbeat. She pressed her ear to the tree, her legs splaying out behind her. Raoul was a little ways away, watching cautiously from behind a tree stump. She heard none of the runic whispers, curated from the heart of the ancient age, those which had been stitched into the very atoms of the forest before the merciless attack. Out from her twisted maw exploded an agonizing sob as she melted to the forest floor, her salty tears melding with the ashy undergrowth.  
The impish faery -who Kani then knew to be dubbed Evander- observed the dilapidated forest surrounding the pair, where the nebulous cloud of cimmerian energy used to be. He dissipated the sharp edges and grey coloring from around his expansive wings, his deep set eyes returning to their natural silvery tone. He turned to the drained half-dryad lying on the ground beside him, a serious grimace encompassing his defined visage.  
“Who in all three realms are you?’ he asked quietly. He proceeded to wave his arm dismissively. “Never mind, that’s not important right now, I’m getting you out of this dingy hell-woodland.”  
He sauntered to meet her weary frame, grunting as he scooped her up into his arms. Feeling a cold, smooth form slip up his leg and into the leather bag hanging from his shoulder, he knew the cheeky familiar had come along as well. His grand wings extended to their full, vast span, before shooting him, and his new acquaintance, up into the mid-afternoon sky.


End file.
